Card-feeder.



w. H. KEPPLE, s. ANDBRSO'ML f'v'v. o".v HICKOK, 3D.

' GARD FEEDER.

APPLICATION IILE1) JULY 2, 1910.

Patented Apr. 15,1913.

4 'sHEBTsLsHEBT 1.

W. E. KEPPLE, s. ANDERSON 8 W. o. EIGKUK, ED.

GARD FEEDER.

` `Paperlnm Apr. 15,1913.

A'PPLIOATION TILED JULY 2, 19.10.

'4 aEEETHsHEEr z.

W. H. KEPPLE, S. ANDERSD'N & W. 0. HICKUK, 3D.y GARD FEEDER.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 2, 1910.

Patented Apr. 15, 1913.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3V tfomwwi W. H. KEPPLB, S. ANDERSON & W. O. HICKOK, 3D.CARD FEEDER.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 2, 1910.

Patented Apr. 15, 1913.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4 Unirsey srafrnsirarnnr 'orercn wiLLIAIM H.. KErIfLii,Ann stuiten; samer nantais! y nonejrnnnsrLvANia, Assiononsjro THEw.o.n1cioi; Mannrncrofenje c o.,g oa lnnREISBURQ,jrnnlysrnyanrav'A-cORr'QRATIQN 'orrnnnsrmama f "1 ycalin-rennen Specification of Letters Patent..` Patentftkpyg i@ t5' y n;Application filed .lilly 2., 1910. SeralvNo. 57,0?,1515

17 'o all whom t may concern.' y

' Be .it known thatwe,I\V1LLmM I-I. YIFl1` y PLE, l SAMUEL. ANDERSON,vand VILLXAM' .0.

Hicnon, 3rd, citizens of the United States y. (of Amerida, and residentsof I'Iarrisburg, in

the county of Dauphin and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certainnew and usefuly Improvements Iin 4Card-Feeders, of which the followingis a specification.

This invention-,relates to certain new and Vuseful improvements inamachinefor feeding cards and it .is designed more particularly for useas a feeder 1n connection with vcard ruling machines, but it will beunder#` stoodthat vit may be used for other pur-.

poses.v

The invention will` be .herein `fullyA set forth and particularlypointedl out in the showing the mechanism for operating thev members.AFig. (8 is a perspeetivedetail of one ot the guides.. i

Referring now to the details oi the drawings-:by numerals t. lvdesignates the bed of the machine on which are preferably castfour-lugs, Q, 3, 4 and 5 for a' purpose to -be hereinafter explained. Tothe outerend of the bed l are bolted'two uprights 6' and 8 which vareconnected together both at the top. andl bottom by cross-bars 9 and IO.These bars 9y and 10 support a central l2 whichl is 'preferably `made ofdove-tail shape to fit into a similarly shaped recess in a weight llwhich is adapted to rest upon a pile of'cards and descend bygravity aslthe cards ,decrease'finv enumber as 'they are fed one by one cfrom thebottom. @wing to theweight being entirely on one side of the 'gage` l2,it will grip the latter and hold does not gripthe gage but willfollowtheV thelugs'are provided with lsetscre'i '46 which rest upon thebedrl .be adjusted laterally upon said bedgunt cards and hold themcompressed' tothe de. f sired extent, rlhus the Weight when onregyplacedon the cards is self-acting. Thebed l isdesignedito support apile-.g

vof cards and these cards rest in the position shown in Figs. 3v and 5.Immediately under their outer ends as seen in Fig. 3,' there is v60 arecess inthe bed l in which is contained an adjustable block 1G, whichis screwed or secu'red toa spring plate 18 secured to the s under sideof the bed. This spring plate 18 K normally holdsthe block'lG so thatits upV 65 l. per face is either flush 'with orslightly above? the uppersurface of the bed l. and poacting y with the spring plate is anadjusting screw 20, with a locking lever 2l, supported by a plateQQ, seeFigs. 3 andl. By adjusting 70 this screw 420 'the block may be raised tothe extent necessary and locltedthere by the locking lever Q1. Theaforesaid block 1G isf 'immediately under 'the gage 1Q and the block isIintended to be adjusted so that it '75 will'permitthe passage betweenit and the 12 of one card only of the thielt'ness'of .cards being fed. yl y On the extreme ends ofthe bed lare se cured two blocks 2l and Q6which forni bear- 80 ings for two feed rollers QS 'and BOivliich as seenin Figf' are geared together sogas to move 'inunison T he upper of theserollersV QS is spring pressed toward the lower roller' 30 yby means asprii'ig 32s() thatI the rollers 85 will automatically adjust themselvesto any thickness of cards fed over 'the aforesaid yad- 'f justable block16. In order that these f vrollers 28 and 30 may be 'positively driven,

we secure to one of them,A the lower vone 30 '9"0 as shown, L4a gearwhichmeshes 'withffand is driven Afrom a driving gear .3G to which'power is applied inr any manner. 'but-' preferif; ably 'from themachine to which our' card feeder is used to feed'cards. l'95 Theiugs Q,3, land 5 yhereir'ibefore re-1*" ferred to are for the purpose ofalording?"l bearings for rfour rods 3S, 39', 40 and il; agd jfVwhichlthe rods maybe clamped inl del. sired position wvlien adjusted?4Tol-these rods are connected horizontal-guides44and v p and wliicli whenthe set lscrews l2 areuns'crei space between said" horizontal guide 4"and@ 46 is just the. width of the cards to be fed by the machine. Theouter ends of the horizontal guides 44 and 46 support vertical guides 48and 50 which, asthey are fixed to the horizontal guides 44 and` 46,necessarily move with them as they are adjusted. The

horizontal guides 44 and .46 a'lso support two more vertical guides 52and 54, but instead 'of being fixed theseare adjustably sel' cured uponsaid guides 44 and '46 by means of bolts 56 and wing nuts 58, the headsof the bolts fitting and sliding in grooves 60 iii the under side of.the guides' 44 and 46 while the horizontal portion of the verticalguides 52 and.54 have ribs'62 fitting within grooves (S4-:1in the uppersides of said guides 44and 46; the lat-ter also having slots 66 'passingthrough for the passage of the bolts 56. .The construction described issuch that when the wing nuts 42 are slightly un- .screwed the verticalguides' are freeto be 'adjusted along the horizontal guides 44 and ..46in either direction and when in the proper position to feed the rsaidwing nuts 56 are tightened to lock the vertical guides'52`and 54 inposition. These -vertical guides are furthermore provided with verticalribs'or flanges 68 and 70 which `serve to retain the rear edges of thepile of proper' size cards,

cards, a'nd with slightly inclined horizontal ribs or flanges 72 and 74which are located over the bed and serve to support the rear afterstated.

The bed 1 is also provided with two longitudinal grooves 76 and'78 and aslot .80,

ends of the cards, for a purpose to be hereinthe first two of whichserve 'to receive ribs '82'formed on a slidable feed block 84 which islocated on the bed between the horizontal the web lhas a flanged bottomlguides 44 and 46. Said slidalble feed block 84 has also secured to it aweb 86 which passesthrough the slot 80 in /the Vbed 1, and

,88 from which projects an arm 90, see Fig. ,7, by which movement is`imparted as will. be explained.

. The slidable card feedingblock is formed as shown particularly inFigs. l, 4 and 7.v

As there shown it has a/-we'dge shaped front end 92 which is adapted/to/ slide under the bottom of a pile of cards/when thelatter aresupported by tl/te bed/ arid the slightly inclined ribs orflangelsi72and74, the latter 'f supporting the rear ends of th'e cards justhigheno'ugh off ofthe bed topermitv the 'wedge shaped end 92 of the cardfeeding block 84 to lenter under the bottom card. Said card feedingblock 84 is further provided with ,a recess 94 which is for they pur-Xposeof receiving the forward end of aniad- .justable spring feedplate-96, therear end of which is rigidly. secured by screws 98to thefeed block, and 'the frontend, which owing to the resilient nature ofthe spring plate would normally project` considerably above the wedgeshaped end '92,ymay be shaped end 96, and, likewise,

forced down with the recess 94 bymeans of an adjusting screw 99 unt-ilthe free end of 4the spring plate projects above the thickest part ofthe wedge-shaped end 92 yjust sufiicient to engage with thelowermostcard on .a pile and shove it from under those above. j it. Itwill of course be understood that the vadjustment is provided in orderthatwhen a 'thicker card is used. the plate 96 may be adjusted toproject farther above the'wedge when a pile of very thinl cards is to befed the plateis forced down into its recess 94 until its 'forward edgeprojects just sufficient to engage' and push the lower card but not toengage the card next above it.

In order to give reciprocatory movement to the 'card feeding block 84and also that itsmovement may be timed with respect to the size 'of thecard and the rapidity with which the card is fedy by the feed rollers 28and 30 hereinbefore described, mechanism is employed as follows: To thebottom of the ,bed 1 are secured two sets of bearings, 100

and 102, .the first of which supports arock shaft 104 and the other arotary shaft l106.

The latter has splined to it a gear 108 which.

-116, the plate 118 may be adjusted within said slot to bring the wheel111 into mesh with the small gear 108, said slot permitting adjustmentwhen-it is -necessary to usc a different size gear 108. Power issupplied to the gear 111 by a ear 120, driven from the same shaft whichrives gear 36, see Fig. 5. Power is transmitted fromA the shaft 106 bymeans of a wrist pin 122 and a'connecting trod, 124 to an arm 126ysecured to the rock shaft v104, so that at each revolutionl of the shaft106,-the shaft 104 is roc'ked. The motion from the rock shaft isimparted by a slottdarm 128 to a rod 130 which is adjust-ably connectedboth to the slotted arm V128 andto theaforesaid arm 90 projecting fromthe slidable card feeding block 84. The result 'of this mechanism isthat at each revolution of the shaft 106, the card feeding i block isreciprocated in both directions to feed a card and return to positionforfeeding the next card. A

' The opera-tion of our feeder is as follows: The horizontal guides44-46 are adjusted -so as to be spaced apart just sufficient to receivebetween them the cards to be fed to the ruling or other machine. Then'the verone way or the other on the rod 180, to bring `the block`84toapproximately the proper place. In order to time'the throw of the feedlock 84 so that the cards may be fed at just the properintervals, a gear108 of the 'proper size is placed on its shaft 106, it being understoodthat a small 'a' smaller change gear 108 than a larger card requirescard, .solthat' for changing the, time of the throw, ldiffer-e.nt sizedgears 108 are employedr'Ihesemay be removed and replaced fread-ily byunscrewing the wing nut 1'10,"taking.of one gear, replacing it with thedesired size, and again securing the wing nut l11.10. It is toaccommodate the use of different change gears 108 that the bracket114which supports the larger gear 111 is' slotted, this slot beingyformed on an arc struckfrom the aXis of the driving wheels 36 and 120.`Further adjustment-is provided bychanging the throw of the arm 128, aswill beunderstood. The various adjustments being made, a pile of cardsof the,appropriate size is placed on the bed as indicated in Fig. 5, therear ends of the cards rest-ing on the slightlyinclined ribs or flanges72 over the wedge-shaped part 92 of the card feeding block 84. Now ateach revolution of the shaft 106 the cardv feeding block 84 is fedforward under the pile of cards and its spring plate 96 (which has beenproperly adjusted) strikes against the bottom card and shoves it fromunder the pile so that its other end is moved to the feed rollers 28 and30, when these rollers feed the card forward into the machine for rulingit. The card feeding block 84 now returns and the operation isrepeated,`the cards being fed one by one as long as they last. IVe areaware that it is not new to employ a feeding device in which areciprocating feeder moves the lowermost card from a pile of cards andfeeds it to a pair of feed rollers and therefore do not claim thisbroadly. l j What we claim as our invention is:

1. In aA machine of the character del-i scribed, a bed, vertical guidesthereon Eadjustable to and from each other and having vertical andhorizontal ribs or flanges, the vertical ones acting as a guide for therear edges of the cards and the horizontal ones located slightly abovethe bed to support the rear part of the cards slightly above the bed.

2. In a machine of the character described, a bed, vertical guidesthereon adjustable to and from each other and having located slightlyabove the bed'to support the rear part of the cards slightly above thebed, and a card feeding block slidably sup.

ported on said bed and having a wedge shaped portion movable under saidcards and another portion arranged to strike and shove the bottom cardfrom under'the others.

8. In a machine of the character described, a bed, guides thereon havingmeans located slightly above the bed for supporting the rear part of thecards slightly above said bed, and a card feeding block'slidablysupported on said bed and havinga wedge shaped portion movable undersaid cards with a recess behind the wedge-shaped portion and a partlocated in said recess and adjustable with respect to said wedge, thelatter `being arranged 'to enter under a pile of cards and the saidadjustable part being 'arranged to strike and shove the bottom card fromunder the others.

4. In a machine of the character described, a bed, guides supportedthereon longitudinally of the bed and movable to and from each other,and vertical guides supported by said longitudinal guides andadjustablethereon and having ribs or flanges adapted to Ahold the edges of thecards slightly above the bed in combination with a card feeding blockslidably supported on the bed and having its end movable under the cardssupported on said ribs or anges.

5. In a machine of the character described, a bed', a gage at the frontof said bed, longitudinal guides supportedon the lbed and adjustabletoand from each other,

and vertical guides supported on'said longitudinal guides and adjustablethereon to and from saidgage, said vertical guides having ribs orflanges, in combination with a card feeding block slidably supportedon-v the bed and havin its end movable under the cards supported on saidribs orilanges.

6. In a machine of the character described, a bedhaving lugs project-ingtherefrom on opposite sides of the bed, running longitudinally of thebed and having rods projecting through said lugs whereby saidlongitudinal guides may be adjustable on the bed, vertical guidesadjustably supported on said longitudinal guides andv a gage lnear thefront'of the bed, the vertical guides being adjust-able on thelongitudinal guides to and from said gage.

7 In a machine of the .character described, a bed having lugs projectingtherefrom on opposite sides of the bed, guides running longitudinally ofthe bed and having rods projecting through said lugs whereby saidlongitudinal guides may be adjustguides able on the bed, vertical guidesadjustably supported on said longitudinal guides and vcoacting with saidf vertical plate for supporting said block and a screwl a gagenear,the'front of the bed, said gage having a Weighted part slidably`supported thereon to `bear downv u on the cards.. j

8.,-In a machine ofp the4 character de` scribed, a bed having-means forfeeding cards 'or the like, guides for' controlling the. vposition ofsaid cards, .a gage at the front of the machine, and an adjustable blockpro-l jeeting through the bottom of the bed and coacting -vvith saidlvertical gage, and a spring plate Vfor support-ing said block.

9. In a Amachine of the character de. scribed, a bed having means forfeeding cards vor the like,.guides for controlling the position of saidcards, a gage at the. `front ofthe machine and an adjustable-'blockprojecting through the bottom of thebedand gage, a spring forcontrolling the position-pf saidplate.

10. In a machine of the character de'- scribed, a bed', guides forcontrolling the position of cards or the like, and a reciprocatingfeeding block comprising a Wedgeshaped member with a recess inthe blockat the rear ofthe Wedge, and a spring element having one end located nsaid recess With itsfront end projecting above the rear part meegaan'cating feeding block comprising'one member adapted to slide under thecards and having a recess therein and a spring plate adjustably securedto the lfirst member and having its" end in said' recess with its endprojecting above the same whereby when the member slides under the cardsthe part of the'spring plate projecting from the recess strikes againstthe. card and feeds it.

Signed at Harrisburg, Pa. this 29th day of June 1910.v

WILLIAM H. 'KEPPLE SAMUEL ANDERSON. WILLIAM O. HICKOK, 3RD.

l :'Witnesses: v v

WM. C. ARMOUR, Ross A. Hronoii.

